The court considered the validity of a purported alteration in the rules of a pension scheme. It was said to have altered the rules in accordance with a power of alteration contained in clause 16 of the scheme under consideration.
Held: ‘I bear in mind that a pension scheme is likely to continue for a substantial period of time and that those most affected by them and entitled to protection from the trustees, the employer and indeed the Court, will be people who are comparatively poor, who will not have easy access to expert legal advice, and who will not know what has been going on in relation to the management of the Scheme. In those circumstances, it seems to me that protection of the beneficiaries requires the Court to be very careful before it permits a departure from the plain wording and plain requirements of the trust deed. Further, it is not as if this was a case where at the date of the trust deed there was a difference of identity between the trustees and the employer: they were the same person even then. Accordingly, I think the Court should be particularly careful before effectively overriding the requirement that there is some sort of written record which can be said to amount to an authority within the meaning of clause 16 of the definitive deed.’
and ‘I refer back to the point to which I have already made reference, namely, that bearing in mind that this is a trust, and bearing in mind the likely long life of this trust and the ignorance as to what has been going on on the part of the beneficiaries, it seems to me that the Court should not be too ready to waive a requirement of written documentation when the Scheme, and the trust deed under which it is set up, specifically require it. Of course, in this sort of case one often finds oneself treading the somewhat blurred line between requiring the terms of a particular deed to be complied with, while not being too pedantic and exacting in one’s requirements.’
Judges:
Neuberger J
Citations:
[2001] Pens LR 283
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Trustee Solutions Ltd and others v Dubery and Another ChD 21-Jun-2006
The rules of a pensions scheme were altered. It was required that any such alteration be in writing, but the trustees had not signed the document creating the amendment.
Held: The words ‘writing under hand’ clearly required a signature, and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Financial Services
Updated: 10 May 2022; Ref: scu.244444